Recaps

Lofan reunited with Ain and took his Marines to the seafaring restaurant Baratie, where he met Zeff and young Sanji. As Lofan prepared to leave, Sanji asked whether ALL BLUE really existed.

• Lofan reunited with Ain, who returned to duty, while Garp encouraged Luffy and Ace to join the Marines and Luffy declared he would become Pirate King.
• Lofan chose to visit Baratie, and Smoker guided him to the famous restaurant in the Sambas Sea.
• Lofan and his Marines ate at Baratie, where Zeff cooked for them and Sanji watched their warship in awe.
• Lofan praised Zeff's cooking and paid the bill before Sanji stopped him to ask whether ALL BLUE existed.

After returning to the Grand Line, Lofan encouraged Ain to consider using her power in his service and received news about Kaido’s pursuit and Robin’s location. He planned to investigate the Baku Islands and Alabasta while awaiting his Marine duties and hoped his template progress would soon unlock the Hōgyoku.

• Sanji vowed to find ALL BLUE himself after Lofan challenged him to pursue his dream, and Smoker approved of the boy’s resolve.
• Lofan asked Ain whether she would use her Rewind-Rewind Fruit for him even when it conflicted with her justice; she hesitated, and he told her to consider it.
• Lofan read Morgans’s report that Big Mom had pursued Kaido and that the Queen Mama Chanter and King’s Beasts Pirates remnants had encountered a Knock Up Stream, leading him to suspect Kaido was headed for Sky Island.
• Lofan received Morgans’s note placing Robin in the Baku Islands and told Ain to find a map so he could plan a trip toward Alabasta and investigate Crocodile and Pluton.
• Ain reported that the map was ready, and Lofan noted that his template progress had reached 53% as he hoped the Hōgyoku would unlock at 60%.

After returning to Marineford, Lofan received orders to escort King Neptune to the Reverie and took charge of the Navy Criminal Search Bureau and the classified unit SWORD. He planned to reorganize the Bureau and build a Navy power base using the Guard Gotei 13 while preparing a proposal to secure more staff.

• Lofan submitted his report on his East Blue voyage, and Sengoku ordered him to escort King Neptune from Fish-Man Island to the Reverie.
• Sengoku assigned Lofan to lead the Navy Criminal Search Bureau and establish the classified special unit SWORD.
• Lofan reviewed the Bureau's authority and SWORD's mission to target the Four Emperors, then recognized how Sengoku had prepared the units as part of his strategy.
• Lofan decided to use the Guard Gotei 13 as a provisional force, organizing it into the Rising Sun intelligence team, the Dragon Group combat team, and the Tailwind logistics team.
• Lofan planned to restructure the Search Bureau, recruit personnel, and draft an anticorruption proposal to persuade Sengoku to allocate more staff.

Kaido brought the battered Beasts Pirates to Angel Island to establish a new base and rebuild their strength. Meanwhile, Lofan proposed an independent Marine Criminal Search Bureau, and Sengoku agreed to support its creation despite staffing and funding challenges.

• Kaido recalled how Rocks had told him about Sky Island and planned to use it as a base to stage his comeback.
• Kaido and the Beasts Pirates sailed across the White Sea toward Angel Island, while King reported that Kaido's son remained unconscious but was not in danger.
• Kaido acknowledged that the Beasts Pirates' feud with the Big Mom Pirates would end only when one side was destroyed, then vowed to return to Lofan.
• Lofan presented Sengoku with a plan for a three-department Marine Criminal Search Bureau, whose members would operate independently of Marine ranks.
• Sengoku promised Lofan his support, and they discussed staffing the bureau with transferred Commodores and Rear Admirals while seeking government funding.
• Lofan proposed moving the bureau headquarters away from Marineford, and Sengoku agreed.

Lofan and Sengoku agreed that Sengoku would oversee Lofan as he led the Search Bureau while remaining an Admiral. At Navy headquarters, Ain delivered Lofan’s reform orders to the bureau, and its long-serving director saw hope in the plan to root out corruption.

• Sengoku approved Lofan’s proposal to establish the Search Bureau on Punk Hazard and agreed to oversee him as a check on his authority.
• Laiyin and Geluusi doubted the newly appointed Cloud Gull Admiral would take the bureau’s troubled work seriously.
• Ain arrived at the Navy Investigation Bureau and delivered Lofan’s order recalling its personnel along with a reform proposal.
• Geluusi read the plan for clearer roles, procedures, and strict punishment of corrupt Navy officers, and was moved by the prospect of reform.

Lofan prepared to leave Navy headquarters while Sengoku provisionally approved his independent recruitment plan for the Navy Investigation Bureau. In the Baku Islands, Nico Robin accepted Crocodile’s offer to become vice president of Baroque Works, leaving with him for Alubarna.

• Sengoku provisionally approved Lofan’s Investigative Officer Recruitment Plan after Lofan insisted the bureau select recruits independently of the Navy.
• Nico Robin waited in the Baku Islands after Daz Bones told her that Baroque Works’ president wanted her help.
• Crocodile met Robin at a café and revealed that he was both Baroque Works’ president and the hero of Alabasta.
• Robin accepted Crocodile’s offer to become Baroque Works’ vice president, Miss All Sunday.
• Crocodile told Daz Bones to inform the organization’s employees and said he would explain Robin’s duties in Alubarna.
• Daz Bones called the café proprietress Paula, who introduced herself to Robin as a fellow Baroque Works employee.

Lofan learned that Robin had gone to Alabasta with Crocodile and headed for Alubarna, while asking Morgans to find Issho. As Crocodile advanced his plan to seize Alabasta and uncover Pluton, Lofan appeared below his office and confronted him.

• Lofan learned from Morgans that Robin had left the Baku Islands with Crocodile for Alubarna, and he asked Morgans to track down Issho.
• Lofan flew toward Alabasta, intending to stop Crocodile from taking Robin for himself.
• Robin learned Crocodile intended to take control of Alabasta and find Pluton, but she kept her concerns about the royal family and the World Government to herself.
• Robin adapted to Baroque Works and helped Crocodile understand its personnel and operations as he prepared Operation Utopia.
• Crocodile watched the street from his balcony and saw a Navy officer approach, who looked up and asked if he was Crocodile of the Shichibukai.

Lofan confronted Crocodile and Daz Bones, then offered Robin a place with him. After Crocodile attacked and lost his arm, Lofan let him leave, while privately planning to test whether Destiny favored Luffy and how to deal with the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika.

• Crocodile and Daz Bones recognized Admiral Yun'ou, while Robin realized she might need to escape.
• Lofan ignored Crocodile and asked Robin to join him, speaking of their fateful meeting and her choice to accept it.
• Crocodile attacked Lofan with his golden hook, but Lofan severed his left arm and embedded him in a wall.
• Crocodile left with Daz Bones, clutching his severed arm and vowing to make Lofan pay.
• Robin questioned why Lofan let Crocodile go, and Lofan explained that he wanted to avoid trouble with Sengoku and was conducting an experiment about Destiny and the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika.

Robin accepted Lofan’s offer to stay by his side, though she remained uncertain about trusting him. At Marineford, Binz joined the Navy Criminal Search Bureau, while Ain and her colleagues looked toward the future of justice and recalled the era when Akainu and Kizaru were recruits.

• Lofan told Robin he had chosen her and would let her leave if she later decided to, and Robin agreed to stay by his side.
• Ain welcomed Binz to her office, where he submitted his application to transfer to the Navy Criminal Search Bureau.
• Binz said he wanted to honor Zephyr’s teachings by pursuing criminals through the Search Bureau, despite its restrictions on promotion.
• Ain declared that she would one day stand beside Lofan and show pirates what it meant for justice to reign over the world.
• Laiyin brought out a bottle of Hero’s Blood and urged Geluusi to tell him about the two extraordinary Marine recruits who became Akainu Sakazuki and Borsalino.

Big Mom and Katakuri dealt with the fallout of Kaido’s survival while investigating Zou and their trade with Lofan. On Sky Island, Kaido consolidated his rule, found Shandora’s gold, and heard Yamato ask about Lofan.

• Big Mom grew angry after Perospero insisted that Lofan had cut Kaido in half, while Katakuri sent Perospero away and reassured her about their connection with Lofan.
• Big Mom learned that Zou existed but remained impossible to locate, ordered supplies sent to Hancock, and decided to trade Homies for Zou’s Poneglyph.
• Kaido ruled Sky Island with Gan Fall acting as an administrator and asked whether Gan Fall had found the Shandia people who attacked him.
• Kaido learned that Shandora was a city made of gold and resolved to make Big Mom and Lofan pay.
• Yamato asked Kaido to tell her about Lofan, and Kaido set down his wine cup in surprise at her request.

Lofan took Robin to read Alabasta’s Poneglyph, which explained how to use Pluton but not where it was hidden, then brought her to Marine Headquarters under a new identity. As the Search Bureau formed and Sengoku expanded Marine operations, the sea moved closer to a wider conflict, leaving Sengoku uncertain about his eventual successor.

• Robin followed Lofan into Alabasta’s Royal Mausoleum, where she read the Poneglyph and told him it described how to use Pluton but not its location.
• Lofan carried Robin to Marine Headquarters, where Illusion concealed her identity and she was registered as Mary, deputy director of the Search Bureau’s Investigation Department.
• Lofan revealed that he had created a Robin No. 2 using Illusion’s hypnotic ability, giving a death-row prisoner Robin’s memories and appearance to guard against unforeseen events.
• Laiyin and Geluusi accepted permanent limits on their military promotions, while Ain, Binz, and Zephyr took roles in the Search Bureau’s departments.
• Sengoku began the Army of Justice program and adjusted Marine deployments to contain the remaining Emperors as the revolutionaries challenged the World Government.
• Sengoku questioned whether Aokiji should succeed him and wondered if he could still thwart Roger’s intentions before retiring.

Doflamingo confronted the Underworld rulers at Stussy’s meeting on Joy Island and used force to shut down questions about his expansion. The rulers left without learning that he planned to unify the Dark World, while Stussy concluded that Kaido’s losses could not be recovered.

• Stussy gathered Doflamingo and the other Underworld rulers to question his sweeping expansion across the islands.
• Stussy tried to make the rulers challenge Doflamingo, but Peclo and Du Feld refused to lead the confrontation.
• Doflamingo slammed Stussy’s head against the table with his power and warned her not to question his actions.
• Doflamingo left after concealing his plan to unify the Dark World, and the other rulers departed in silence.
• Morgans chastised Stussy for trying to draw him into the dispute, while Stussy concluded that Kaido’s losses were beyond recovery.

Lofan let Doflamingo pursue his schemes while preparing to reform the corrupt Navy Investigation Bureau. After rallying the remaining members, he began their training and left them facing a painful process of renewal.

• Morgans considered whether to tell Lofan about Doflamingo's expansion, while Doflamingo treated the seized territories as an advance on Lofan's promised compensation.
• Lofan recognized that Morgans was likely turning a blind eye to Doflamingo and decided to let Doflamingo make trouble while he focused on the Investigation Bureau.
• Ain told Lofan that Mary could remain safely inside the Bureau building, and he sent Ain to check on Zephyr before training began.
• Lofan addressed the Investigation Bureau's remaining members, explaining that their training would begin a purge and teach them to become qualified Investigation Officers.
• The members applauded and cried as Lofan's speech rekindled their belief in justice.

Lofan appointed leaders for the reorganized Search Bureau and ordered a secret unit to monitor its members, but soon ran into shortages of money and manpower. As Ain struggled to prepare training materials without guidance, Lofan realized he had forgotten to give her the materials she needed.

• Lofan named Geluusi and Laien director and deputy director, Ain acting Minister of Internal Affairs, Binz acting head of Operations, Zephyr chief instructor, and Mary head of the Search Department.
• Lofan announced a secret Internal Intelligence Unit that would assess bureau members' loyalty, ability, and sense of justice and remove those who failed.
• Back in his office, Lofan worried that Sengoku's promised funding and personnel would not be enough, then decided to seek help from Morgans and called him to request surveillance of several people.
• Ain struggled to create training materials and political education classes, while Binz found her unresponsive at her desk and fetched Lofan.
• After Binz shook Ain until she came around, she apologized for failing, and Lofan realized he had assigned her lesson plans without providing the teaching materials.

After realizing that Lofan had forgotten an important matter, Ain struggled with her embarrassment while Binz slipped out of the room. Lofan helped Ain prepare lessons for the Search Bureau and explained his people-centered vision of justice, leaving her deeply shaken and hopeful.

• Ain was stunned to learn that Lofan had forgotten something, while Binz quietly escaped the awkward room.
• Lofan set aside time to help Ain write lesson plans and stressed ideological training for the Search Bureau.
• Lofan told Ain that justice meant serving people with strength, benevolence, and a resolve not to kill.
• Ain was moved by Lofan's vision and wondered whether he could bring peace to the broken world.
• Lofan shared his guiding principle: “serve the people.”

Lofan trained the Search Bureau’s first recruits and persuaded Sengoku to provide more personnel and ships for a secret operation against a powerful figure in the Marines. He planned to fund the bureau by catching wealthy targets, while preparing to build a fleet and expand SWROD.

• Lofan gave the Search Bureau recruits a speech demanding absolute loyalty and urging them to pursue justice.
• Zephyr began putting the recruits through brutal training, while Garp and Zephyr praised Lofan’s potential before leaving.
• Lofan pleaded with Sengoku for manpower, then explained that he intended to dismantle a powerful figure’s network of influence in Marine branches.
• Sengoku approved Lofan’s request for personnel and a few new high-speed warships, and Lofan proposed a grand exercise to select recruits.
• Lofan decided to raise money for the operation by catching wealthy targets rather than taking funds from Marine Headquarters or ordinary people.

Lofan raided Marine Branch 199 to arrest Rear Admiral Morris and expose the branch’s corruption. He stripped Morris and his accomplices of their ranks, disbanded the branch, and sent its personnel to Marine Headquarters or the Search Bureau for investigation.

• Binz continued drifting at sea to collect money for Lofan, frustrated by the risky and aimless assignment.
• Lofan surrounded Marine Branch 199 and arrested Rear Admiral Morris after announcing the charges against him.
• Lofan’s men brought in Morris’s associates, Skull Captain Taya and Commander Peifuri, whose capture shattered Morris’s defiance.
• Lofan declared Morris, Taya, and Peifuri accomplices in corruption and rebellion, relieved them of their duties, and ordered them sent to Search Bureau headquarters.
• Lofan disbanded Marine Branch 199 and ordered its personnel transferred to Marine Headquarters for investigation.

Lofan secretly investigated the corrupt 199th Marine Branch by tracing a smuggling operation on Katalier and recording pirates’ confessions. After Marines interrupted his rest and attacked him, he confronted their colonel, leaving their fight underway.

• Lofan entered the 199th Marine Branch’s jurisdiction in disguise and investigated smuggling on Katalier.
• An old fisherman told Lofan that Marines allowed pirate crews to smuggle extracts in exchange for a share of the profits.
• Lofan located the pirates, forced them to confess, and recorded their statements with a Den Den Mushi.
• A Marine colonel and his men broke into Lofan’s inn room and accused him of causing trouble.
• Lofan dodged the colonel’s katana and struck at him, but the colonel blocked the blow with his sword.

Lofan defeated Skeleton Taya using only physical strength, then exposed and dismantled Marine Branch 199 after investigating its corruption. He anticipated retaliation from powerful interests but remained determined to reshape the Marines.

• Lofan tested his physical strength against Taya, who boosted his abilities and attacked with a flaming, Haki-coated katana, but Lofan knocked him unconscious.
• Lofan handed Taya to the Search Bureau’s standby fleet for interrogation, then investigated several more islands and gathered evidence against Marine Branch 199.
• Lofan surrounded the branch, and the troops guarding the perimeter captured the fleeing Commander Peifuri, who joined Taya in testifying against Rear Admiral Morris.
• Lofan dealt with Morris and Marine Branch 199, confiscated the branch’s property, and sent its illicit funds to the Investigation Bureau under the authority Sengoku had granted him.
• Lofan anticipated that Morris’s backers and other powerful figures would retaliate, but he resolved to reshape the Marines’ power structure.

Lofan drafted a plan to modernize the Navy’s warships and build the research and production capacity on Punk Hazard. He then inspected the Search Bureau’s training program and thanked Ain for her administrative work.

• Lofan wrote a warship upgrade program focused on metal hulls, mechanical propulsion, ship design research, and new production facilities.
• Lofan sealed the program and sent it to the Development Agency, promising to support its research.
• Lofan visited the Search Bureau’s training grounds and saw soldiers drilling under instructors and Zephyr sparring with trainees.
• Lofan toured the classrooms and found Ain working hard on the Bureau’s administration.
• Lofan thanked Ain for her efforts, and she lowered her head in embarrassment.

Lofan set out for Fortune Island to recruit Issho into the Navy Criminal Search Bureau, while Robin managed the Bureau’s staffing needs and paperwork at Marineford. Sengoku approved Lofan’s request but questioned the department’s repeated demands for administrative personnel.

• Lofan learned that Issho was on Fortune Island and decided to personally invite him to join the Search Bureau.
• Robin continued handling personnel transfers and recruitment paperwork at Marineford while facing unwanted gifts and attention from suitors.
• Robin asked Sengoku to approve Lofan’s trip to recruit Issho, and Sengoku agreed after hearing that Issho was worth the effort.
• Sengoku questioned Robin about the Search Bureau’s third request for more administrative staff, and Robin explained that workers were checking vast, poorly organized records.

Lofan met Issho at the Woof Woof Royal Casino and urged the compassionate gambler to use his strength in the Marines. Issho questioned the Marines’ justice because the World Government sanctioned the Shichibukai, and Lofan began to address the system’s interests.

• Lofan approached Issho during a dice game, and Issho left the casino with him to talk privately.
• Heng Youcai learned that Lofan had entered the casino and sent Duobao and Duocai to welcome him and sound him out.
• At an empty tavern, Issho introduced himself to Lofan, who called him the Cloud Gull Admiral.
• Lofan asked Issho whether he wanted to help bring justice to the world, and Issho challenged him over the Marines’ acceptance of the Shichibukai system.
• Lofan said the Shichibukai system was tied to many interests, and Issho waited for him to explain his objections.

Lofan persuaded Issho to join his effort to reform the Navy from within and fight the corruption behind the Shichibukai system. They visited Issho’s old friend Ao San, who quickly guessed why Lofan had come.

• Lofan explained his plan to purge corruption and teach the Navy’s ranks the ideals of justice, then described marines who had profited by controlling pirates.
• Issho condemned the corrupt marines, bowed to Lofan, and agreed to help him reform the Navy for the sake of the people.
• Duobao and Duocai delivered the Fortune Kingdom’s offer to cover Lofan’s expenses, and he said he hoped to meet the king and learn about his power over financial fortune.
• Issho asked to visit an old friend before joining the Navy, and Lofan accompanied him to the Woof Woof Royal Casino.
• Ao San, the casino’s owner, recognized Lofan as the Cloud Gull Admiral and quickly worked out why he had arrived with Issho.

Lofan learned about Ao San’s endless wager with Heng Youcai and continued educating Issho about the Search Bureau aboard their warship. Robin then informed Lofan that the Five Elders had summoned him to Mary Geoise and suspended the Bureau until his review was complete.

• Ao San explained that he had wagered with Heng Youcai that he would never be caught cheating, risking his lifelong financial luck if he lost.
• Heng Youcai worried about the unexpected threat, while Lofan considered him a potential source of funding for the Search Bureau and other projects.
• Lofan and Issho left Ao San and boarded their warship, where Lofan instructed Issho in the Search Bureau’s principles and approach to preventing corruption.
• Issho heard the Navy’s recitations and training drills and reconsidered his former prejudice against the Navy.
• Robin told Lofan that the Five Elders had ordered him to appear in Mary Geoise and that the Search Bureau had to suspend operations pending his review.

Lofan prepared to counter the Five Elders’ investigation while the Celestial Dragons plotted to punish him and the Five Elders debated summoning him to a hearing. As Lofan approached Marineford, he removed his Justice Coat and prepared to face the World Government’s gatekeepers.

• Lofan warned Ain to keep their people calm, sent precautions through a News Coo, and asked Robin to prepare documents for the investigation.
• Robin recalled some of her people to prepare the documents, while the Marines blockading the Navy Criminal Search Bureau ignored their work.
• Saint Charlos and Saint Gemlova plotted with another Celestial Dragon to make Lofan their target and punish him for interfering with their income.
• The Five Elders discussed Lofan’s record, the complaint against him, Kaido’s vacancy, and whether to summon him to a hearing.
• Lofan’s warship neared Marineford, and he removed his Justice Coat before meeting the Five Elders’ gatekeepers.